Vietnam province scraps $20 billion refinery project with Thai PTT

Vietnam's Binh Dinh province has scrapped a $20 billion refinery and
petrochemicals plant with Thai oil company PTT due to delays in getting
construction of the project going, a provincial industry official said on
Tuesday.

State-controlled PTT had said last month it would postpone the project and
re-assess it later in the year, citing political changes in Vietnam and
uncertainty in global oil markets.

"The project has taken too much time to implement," said Nguyen Ngoc Toan,
deputy head of the Binh Dinh's economic zone management, told Reuters, adding
the decision was announced at a recent meeting of provincial officials.

PTT had studied the possibility of investing in central Vietnam for more
than four years and had aimed to start construction this year in partnership
with Saudi Aramco, the world's biggest oil producer.

The development plan included a 400,000 barrel-per-day refinery and an
olefins and aromatics petrochemical plant with an annual output of 5 million
tonnes.